Grade-indicator for vehicles.



0. HICROOK.

GRADE INDICATOR FOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. 1912.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

Inventor Delbert H. Crook by 3M? Attiqs.

nnmsnn'r H. CROOK, or SAN rnnno, caniroian a."

enann-innrca'ron FOB. VEHICLES.

. Application filed July 26, 1917. Serial No.- 183,002.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DELBERT H. CRooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Pedro, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grade lndicators for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification. a

My object is to improve and modify the details of construction of a grade indicator for automobiles and especially to provide a grade indicator which may be'adjusted to dash-boards of various inclination. I

Figure 1 is afront elevation of a grade indicator embodying, the principles of my invention, as, seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrows 1 in Figs., 2 and9. v

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on a plane parallel with Fig. 9 and on theline 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the stabilizer plunger and dash-pot and the means for controlling the dash-pot, on the same plane asFig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 41 of Fig. 2 and showing the main shaft of the indicating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on a plane parallel with Fig. 2 and on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and upon a reduced scale, and particularly showing, the hand operating mechanism. v

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5 and looking in the direction indicated bythe arrows.

Fig. 7 's an enlarged sectional detail 0 the line 77 of Fig. 5 showing the counterbalancing spiral spring for stabilizing the indicator hand. q

Fig. 8 is'a vertical sectional detail on the line 88 of Fig. 10 and looking in the direc tion indicated by the arrow, that is, in the opposite direction from Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation on a plane parallel with Fig. 2 and as indicated by the arrow --9 in Fig. 1, and showing the indicator in position for use, the dash-board being shown in section.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional det' line '101O of Fig. 9.

The dash-board 10 has an opening 11 to receive the indicator 12. The outer casing 13'is cut to fit the indicator after the indi- 'il on the Specification of Letters Patent. i

P tentedJan. 1,1918.

cator has been installediand leveled and casing simply serves as a cover tof finish the JQb-- a The circular dial plate 14 is formed inte gral with an outwardly-extending externally screw-threadedjflange 1 5,,and an inters,

nally screw threaded: j-bezel16 fits upon the flange, and. has an inwardly extending rim to hold the crystal 17 in place against the end of the fiange 15. A sca1e18 is formed upon the face of the platelet concentric with the stem 19 .of theindicating. hand, said-scale reading both'ways frorn the center in hori:

zontalalinement' with the stem, and. the indicator hand20 is fixed upon the stem with-its pointoverlapping the-scale- The dial plate 14 isfastened by screws 2l to the end of the housing22, said housing being substantially square in cross-section and having parallel side walls 2 3. and24. Cup bearing screws aaanazatnma through theswalls 23 and 24 andre'ceive the conical endsof; the main shaft 27, saidshaft being free to rotate in i the bearings and extending horizontally transversely of the automobile and parallel with the dash-Ib oard. The weighted operatingpendulum 28 i fixed upon the shaft 27 just inside of the wall 23 andvdepends down 3 wardly. A crank arm 29 is fixed upon the center of the shaft 27 by a set-screw 30, said arm extending horizontally forwardly. .The dash-pot plunger 31 is ipiv otally connected to the forward end of thearm 29 and de- 1 pendsvertically and operatesin the dash-j pot 32. The plunger head has a 'spheroidal peripheral facelfitting closely in the dash,- pot so that thestem of, the plunger may vibrate without binding. 'A counterbalanc ing weight 33 is formed integral with the arm 29 upon the opposite side of the shaft 27 from the dashpot so as to counterbalance the weight of the plunger. The dash-pot 32 is mounted in a base31' secured to the horiQ V zontal fio0r 22of the l1ousing 22by screws 35. A vent36 leads through the base34: from the'bottom of the dash-potrearwardly and upwardly. The, dash-pot regulating" stem .37 is mounted'fthrough the dial plate 14 and has a reduced screw-threaded end37. seate dfin the base 34 and, has a" soft metal washer 38" fitting against thev shoulder 38' between the screw-threads and the body of the stem, said washerextendinglover the vent 36, so that by manipulating" the stem the resistance through the vent may be adjusted. The outer end ofthe stem is providedwith a ,kerfiso that it may sbecmanipulated with a screw-driver.

A segmental crowndgearn39is fixedupon the shaft 27 just inside of the wall 2 and held adjustably in place by asst-screw 40..

A spiral pinion 41 is fixed upon the handstem 19 in mesh withthegear 39. A-rbearing bracketetQ is secured to the inneriace of the wall 2 1 just inside of-the dial plate, and a similarbearing bracket 43 is secured to the wall 2% belowand-inf front oi the shaft 27, and the i-ndicator stem 19 is'mounted in these bearingsand extends through the dial plate. "The lower end of the-' "stem 19 isconical and operates injthe adjustable cupscrew screw-seated through the bracket a3 and adjustable from 'the'bottonr' A spiral spring isfixed at' its inner end'to the shaft 19 by a clamping'collar4e6 and its o'uter end adjustably mounted in a slot in the pin 17 extending upwardly from the bearing bracket 43 so' that the tension of the spring maybe accurately adjusted,'and the tension oi this spring is set so as to tu rn the indicator hand-2O to its normal central position upon the scale when the automobile is standill ing level, 1novement'of the'f-hand in either direction bein'g' opposed to'the tension of the p g r a j The housing 22 is square in cross-section at its rearj upp'er end and when the indicator is mounted upon a vertical dash-board, as in Fig. 2, this part'ofthe housing is inclined to an angle offab'out twenty degrees so that the dial plate; 14 will be inclined and easily yisible irom the operatorsseat. The lower part of the honsing' isiniade level by thefloor end o jfithehjousing in'a vertical position and is secured in'place by cap-screws 22 so as to complete theclosing'of the chamber within which the mechanism is operated.

. The dash-pot 32 is .preferably'operated e t r ly iii-ai i- When th plun s in athe" "i co pressed and en t rlen erfs e up a r s e an d. t e

Th a ac ing r m. 8 i cir ular in pla andis, or be stamped froin'sheet metal, and has. a circular opening feQ'ila'r'ge enough 6 r eiv he h u l se y-f Ea s 550 and 51 extend aekw rd y r m h n er e i "th rim nd hav d am i hcriz i tally a fn d h ri g openings 5.2-

- P un er-nine 5s imell r in cent l PQ's The ri nis adapted to be secured to the face 0 the annex -1o name O eni 11 byl e' ewe' 3! Triangul r pl; es 5 and. 5 a e Pi te "a a n th w llsifl'sanwe and he Sc: i 2 7 m. '26, sup'r tingt ei' haft ZfiQare 'L 'd th 7- 1' these plates, fie h it e a? i ress." e

screws 25 and 26. Supporting screws 57 and 58 are inserted through the ears 50 and 51 into desired and corresponding ones of the openings 56, then the device is mounted in a place uponthe dashboard, with the automobile upon'level grounder a level floor, and the housing 22 extends loosely into the opening 11 and is adjusted upon the screws 57 ,and 58 until the indicator hand QO-assumes its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1. Then the screws-57 and 58 are tightened to hold the indicator mechanism rigidly in place. The points of the screws may jam againstt'he housing. The object of having the series oftap'pedopenings 56 is to provide for adjustment to make the device fit level upon dashboards of various inclinations, and if it cannot be leveled in one opening, the screws are reinserted into another opening and the plates 54 and 55 may be adjusted backgand forth uponpthe walls 23' andQt around the screws 25 and QGIuntil'the indicator is level with the rig, then the screws 57 and 58 are set up tight in the openings 56. After the indicatorhas thus been set, the casing 13 is cut to fit the angle between the dashboard l Oand the dial plate 14: and the bezel 16 is removed, the casing slipping over the screwt-hr eaded flange 15 against the attaching rim 18, then the bezel is applied, and has a counter-bore portion 16 extending beyond the screw-threads and fitting around theed e My present invention is an improvement v and modification over the invention shown in my companion application for a grade indicator, filed April 10, 1916, Serial No. 90,175, and which patent was granted June 5, 1917, hearing the Number 1,229,041.. the

leading distinguishing features of the present invention being the means for leveling the grader upon'dashboards of various inclinations, and the meansfor adj usting the dash-pot through thefdial plate;

Various changes may be made in the de tails of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention as setup in the following claims:

I clann: v

Ll'n'a grade indicator, a dial plate, a.

housing extending backwardly from the dial plate, hand operating mechanism in the.

h9$iflg adash-pot torfsteadying the mech- 13o anism, and means accessible from in front of the dial plate for regulating the dashpot.

2. In a grade indicator, a dial plate, a housing extending backwardly from the dial plate, hand operating mechanism in the housing, a dash-pot in the housing for steadying the hand operating mechanism; there being a rearwardly extending vent in the dash-pot; a stem inserted through the dial plate for regulating the vent, a bezel screw-seated upon the dial plate, and a crystal held in place by the bezel; so that by removing the bezel the dash-pot may be regulated.

3. In a grade indicator, an attaching plate having an opening, a housing loosely mounted in the opening and pivotally connected to the attaching plate on a horizontal plane, a grade indicator mechanism mounted in the housing, and means for holding the housing in aniadjusted position upon the pivotal connection.

4:. In a grade indicator, an attaching plate adapted to be secured to a dash-board and having a large central opening, a housing extending loosely into the opening and pivotally connected to the attaching plate, means for adjusting the housing to a level position, means for holding the housing in its adjusted level position, and grade indicator mechanism mounted in the housing.

5. In a grade indicator, an attaching plate havinga large opening, bearings extending from the attaching plate at opposite sides of the opening and in horizontal alinement, a housing, grade indicator mechanism mounted in the housing; said housing having vertical flat sides and fitting loosely in said opening; plates mounted against the flat sides of the housing and secured upon pivots in alinement with the main shaft of the indicator mechanism; said plates having a series of tapped openings concentric to the pivots; and screws adapted to be inserted through the bearings into desired ones of the tapped openings so as to level the grade indicator mechanism relative to the attaching plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

DELBERT H. GROOK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

